Question regarding using Acetone to remove oil from stock

[Bill Holcombe]

Ok, I am going with the aluminum baking pan with 1 gallon of acetone and aluminum foil lid method. That is all pretty understood.

I also understand that I need to remove the safety rod from the stock and all the metal from the forearm correct?

Also, and here is my primary question, just not wanting to screw this up, the instruction I have read say to wash out the pan and with and soak the wood in alcohol after all the oil is removed. My question is, do I need to use plain old rubbing alcohol or denaturalized alcohol or some other specific form of alcohol? Again, just wanting to avoid screwing up the wood.

[Bill Holcombe]

One other question, on the forend, the latch was a piece of cake to remove, but I am not really sure about how to remove the piece of metal in the middle of the forend with the serial number on it.

Any info on how to remove it, or should I just leave it in the forend?

[Dean Romig]

Once the screws are removed it can be tapped rearward and will drop right out. You will notice that the forend iron (the part with the serial number) is tapered narrower at the front. Use a plastic or wooden dowel of small enough diameter that it will catch the slot where the forend lug fits. A relatively short dowel is best and a few light taps will get the iron to slide rearward.

[Justin Julian]

King Cobb....Here's what I do to de-oil old stocks. I'm not saying its the best way, or even the right way, but it has worked well for me dozens of times. KEEP IN MIND THE FLAMMABLE AND HEALTH DANGERS OF SOLVENTS AND ALWAYS WEAR PROPER GLOVES AND FACE SHIELD AT ALL TIMES, AND ONLY DO THIS IN AN OUTSIDE LOCATION.

1. Once the metal is removed from the wood, place it in a plastic tub outside and spay it thoroughly with Easy Off oven cleaner. Let it sit for a while and you will notice the foaming action lifting away old oil and crud. Take a tooth brush and, while wearing rubber gloves, gently brush all the surfaces that you can reach. Hose it off and repeat the process two more times, or until you can wipe the wood with a white cloth and not get an oily stain on it.

2. Dry the wood carefully, which will look much lighter in color, with a hair drier or clean rag. Inspect it carefully. If the head and wrist area are darker than the rest, its because it is soaked with oil, which is a common problem with old butt stocks. Stand it in a mason or pickle jar and fill to the rim with new acetone. Use aluminum foil to seal the top of the jar to the stock to help slow evaporation of the acetone. Let it stand for two days. If the acetone turns dark like tea, replace it and let stand another day.

3. Once most of the oil has leached out of the head and wrist of the stock, submerge the entire stock in clean acetone and cover the tub with foil, crimping down the edges, unless you have a lid of course. Be sure to place it in a safe location....ACETONE IS FLAMMABLE TO THE POINT OF BEING EXPLOSIVE. Check on it daily. When the acetone looks like tea, replace it and let it soak some more.

4. After it seems to be fully de-oiled, you're probably only half way done. Take the wood out of the bath and, after its dry, use a heat gun to heat up the head and wrist. Be careful not to burn the wood. Any remaining oil will boil up out of the stock pores, and you can wipe it away with a rag and Tilex bathroom spray. Repeat until no more oil rises when heated. You may find that you have to soak the head end in the jar of new solvent again. I will often place the wood on a sunny window sill for a couple days to let it dry and absorb some heat from the sun. Then try to raise oil again with the heat gun.

5. If the wood is badly soaked with oil, you may need to repeat the process with another type of solvent. I use lacquer thinner for the really stubborn ones. Eventually, all the dark oil spots will go away and you won't be able to raise any oil with the heat gun. That's when you know you're done.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your results.

[Brian Dudley]

Forend irons being stuck in the wood is a common issue. They will come out with enough tapping.

[Bill Holcombe]

Oh it came off easily enough. I just didn't want to force it unless I knew it would come off. Currently have all of the wood soaking in acetone. I will hopefully know which alcohol to soak in before the acetone is finished.

[Brian Dudley]

Denatured

[Bill Holcombe]

Well after soaking overnight, the acetone is starting to turn the color of weak tea. It is dark yet so I won't be replacing it yet, but the process has started well so far.

[Bill Holcombe]

Ok, the stocks have been in the acetone bath for about 4 days. lots of oil has come out, but I took them out to see what the wood looked like after some evaporation today and parts while the neck/checkering has the stripped bare grayish wood look to it, the cheek pieces of the stock still have a darker smooth look to them almost like they still have finish on them.

I have been turning the wood over 2xs a day so I find it hard to believe the acetone hasn't removed the finish. Just don't want to start soaking them in the alcohol before they are ready.

[Brian Dudley]

I will periodically remove the stock from the acetone and go at it with 0000 steel wool. This will help with stubborn finish removal.

[Bill Holcombe]

Thx, I went after it a bit with the 0000 steel wool and back in the bath it went.

[Frank Srebro]

I know acetone is commonly used as a stock soak bath but has anyone investigated the chemistry of its reaction with the lignin in the wood? Lignin is a complex polymer and acts as the "glue" that holds the wood fibers together. I do know that alkalines (as in oven cleaners) will dissolve lignin and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a long bath with something like acetone might do that too. JFWIW.

[Bill Holcombe]

I have no idea on that, however, from my research acetone baths have been a long time used method for removing oil from stock wood by gunsmiths.